New wild food venture a natural move for award winning chef Paul

He’s been acclaimed the best chef in Ireland and featured on BBC’s popular Great British Menu series.

Now Paul Cunningham, head chef and joint owner of the award winning Brunel’s Restaurant in Newcastle, is combining his role at the successful eatery with Mourne Larder, a small food enterprise he’s set up recently to specialise in dried sea vegetables and wild herbs as healthy ingredients for home cooks and other professional chefs.

A native of Dundrum, Paul (34), a father of two young children, has just launched three natural and original products based on his longstanding love of foraging the Co Down coastline for healthy seaweed and the slopes of his beloved Mourne Mountains for wild garlic and other edible herbs.

Paul is following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father in foraging for natural ingredients. Both have been involved in the nursery business for decades.

The talented and widely respected chef has been using foraged ingredients in his dishes from his earliest days in the kitchen. It’s now the backbone of his cooking at the 70-seat restaurant in the seaside town.

The first natural seasonings he’s launched under the new Mourne Larder brand are: Dulse Salt; Smoked Heather; and Sea Truffle Salt. He’s already selling them to other chefs, including his good friend Jim Mulholland, the chef/owner at 14 The Georgian House in Comber, and aiming to market them to delis and specialist food stores around the country. In the pipeline are infused vinegars, brines and rubs for meats.

“Setting up my own small business with the natural products I’ve used in my dishes for years has been on my mind for quite a while,” Paul explains. “I am passionate about foraging for seaweed and wild herbs,” he continues. “I can usually be found exploring the coastline and fields around Dundrum and Newcastle for edible ingredients every weekend to enable me to create different and original flavours.

“I am always happy to explain when diners ask me about them. It’s all part of the education process,” he continues. He’s often joined by wife Jennifer, a textile designer, and daughter Farrah (6) on his foraging missions.

Seaweed, he says, offers health benefits, great taste and is abundant along the coast. “Seaweed contains a wide range of vitamins and minerals and is a versatile and nutritious option,” adds Paul.

He was reared to respect nature and the land by his grandfather and father who both grew a wide range of herbs. “I first started out in food at six, because my grandad, Paddy Cunningham, was a keen forager and grew a lot himself. I was there foraging with him all the time and that’s where my love of food and nature came from.”

He cherishes the memories, learning to respect nature, where to look for seasonal fruit and herbs and the best spots on his doorstep for “wonderful shellfish, sea vegetables and herbs”.

He started in food preparation as a kitchen porter and dishwasher in a Dundrum restaurant at the age of 12 at weekends and during the school holidays. He then started cooking at 14. “The day I left school I joined a cookery course at Belfast Tech and got my Level 2 and 3 culinary qualifications,” he continues.

He cooked at the Roadhouse Inn in Dundrum, then at the local golf links and the Bucks Head in the village before moving to the Burrendale Hotel in Newcastle. “I was head chef at The Round Tower just before my 19th birthday and moved to other restaurants before joining my good friend Brian McCann at the renowned Shu in Belfast for a short time”. In 2014, Paul became head chef and joint owner at Brunel’s Restaurant, now among the most respected on the island, with general manager Fiona Davey.

He describes his cooking style as being “local ingredient-led with very strong flavours”. “It’s all about flavours with me; there’s no point a dish looking great if it doesn’t taste good.

“Taste is easily the most important thing. This is one of the reasons why I opt for food from the area. I know I can count on it being both fresher and tastier.

“As a result, 80 percent of the ingredients in the vast majority of my dishes come from within 30 miles of the restaurant.

“This approach also allows me to get to know each producer and to work with them on providing the ingredients I need in the restaurant and whenever I require them,” he explains.

The restaurant is now operating on a limited basis due to the lockdown, as the case throughout the country. “Our focus is currently on keeping the business ticking over with our hugely popular Sunday roasts of local meats until the lockdown is eventually lifted,” he adds.